Witnesses said Smith heaved, coughed 13 minutes after first drugs were administered

Share

Shares

Copy Link

{copyShortcut} to copy
Link copied!

Updated: 6:42 PM CST Dec 9, 2016

Hide TranscriptShow Transcript

WEBVTT
COMPLICATIONS SHOW WHY DEATH
PENALTY NEEDS TO GO.
RONALD SMITH'S EXECUTION DID NOT
GO WELL.
WITNESSES CLAIM SEVERAL MINUTES
INTO HIS EXECUTION, SMITH
STARTED COUGHING AND HEAVING.
ATTORNEY RICHARD JAFFE HAS
FOUGHT FOR DEATH ROW INMATES FOR
DECADES.
>> I DON'T THINK THIS IS GOING
TO HELP PROPONENTS OF THE DEATH
PENALTY IN ALABAMA OR
NATIONALLY, BECAUSE IT IS
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF TORTURE.
JON: THE FIRST OF THREE
CHEMICALS ALABAMA USES HAS BEEN
LINKED TO A HANDFUL OF OTHER
[INDISCERNIBLE]
ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
IT HE JOINED A LAWSUIT FOLLOWING
THE DRUG'S USE IN ALABAMA.
>> THE COURTS IN THE PRISON
SYSTEM, THEY WERE WARNED IN
WRITING THIS WAS PRONE TO BE
BOTCHED, AND A SIMILAR ONE WAS
BOTCHED, AND YET THAT IS WHAT
HAPPENED.
JON: A JUDGE SENTENCED HIM TO
DIE AFTER A JURY RECOMMENDED
PRESENT.
ALABAMA IS THE ONLY STATE THAT
ALLOWS A JUDGE TO OVERTURN A
JURY RECOMMENDATION.
AND HE THINKS WHAT HAPPENED LAST
NIGHT WILL END EXECUTIONS.
>> THIS IS ANOTHER CHAIN IN THE
ARMOR TO PREVENTING THE DEATH
PENALTY FROM BEING
CONSTITUTIONAL.
JON: RONALD SMITH WAS CONVICTED
OF SHOOTING STORE CLERK CASEY
WILSON TO DEATH IN HUNTSVILLE 22
YEARS AGO.

Advertisement

Execution of Ronald Smith resurfaces concerns over death-penalty drug

Witnesses said Smith heaved, coughed 13 minutes after first drugs were administered

Ronald Smith’s execution for a Huntsville murder is raising questions about the death penalty and a drug Alabama uses to sedate inmate during their executions.
Thursday night, witnesses said Smith heaved and coughed 13 minutes after the first of the drugs were being administered.
Alabama uses a drug called midazolam to sedate inmates.
The same drug has been linked to a handful of other troubled executions across the country, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld its use in state executions.
Birmingham attorney Richard Jaffe is an outspoken critic of the death penalty in the United States.
He said Alabama is the only state that still allows judges to overturn a jury’s life-sentence recommendation in favor of death.
He feels Smith’s execution is another example of what's wrong with the death penalty.
"In this case, the courts and the prison system was warned in writing that this was prone to be botched and a similar previous one was botched and yet, that is exactly what happened," Jaffe said. "It's more evidence that we allow ourselves to torture individuals in spite of what they've done and the Eight Amendment prohibits that."
Jaffe believes that cases such as Smith’s are another chink in the armor of death-penalty supporters and he predicts the punishment will be outlawed in all 50 states within the next decade.
Smith was convicted of a fatal shooting of a Huntsville store clerk in 1994.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —

Ronald Smith’s execution for a Huntsville murder is raising questions about the death penalty and a drug Alabama uses to sedate inmate during their executions.

Thursday night, witnesses said Smith heaved and coughed 13 minutes after the first of the drugs were being administered.

Related Content

The same drug has been linked to a handful of other troubled executions across the country, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld its use in state executions.

Birmingham attorney Richard Jaffe is an outspoken critic of the death penalty in the United States.

He said Alabama is the only state that still allows judges to overturn a jury’s life-sentence recommendation in favor of death.

He feels Smith’s execution is another example of what's wrong with the death penalty.

"In this case, the courts and the prison system was warned in writing that this was prone to be botched and a similar previous one was botched and yet, that is exactly what happened," Jaffe said. "It's more evidence that we allow ourselves to torture individuals in spite of what they've done and the Eight Amendment prohibits that."

Jaffe believes that cases such as Smith’s are another chink in the armor of death-penalty supporters and he predicts the punishment will be outlawed in all 50 states within the next decade.

Smith was convicted of a fatal shooting of a Huntsville store clerk in 1994.